Valley of the Meadows by Geoffrey Ellis

Valley of the Meadows is not a depiction of the real Las Vegas, but instead is inspired by a side of Las Vegas that existed in the tumultuous era of the mid-1970s and early-1980s. It was an era where the city was in a depressing downward spiral and the criminal entities running the city were slowly losing their grip to the corporations that could outspend them.

The time between the 1950s-1960s Hollywood-glamour Vegas and the 1990s-2000s shift to a family friendly destination (which ultimately became an adult playground) is nicely summed up in a quote by the character, Sam Rothstein, in the Martin Scorsese film Casino: “The town will never be the same. After the Tangier’s [was torn down] the big corporations took it all over, today it looks like Disneyland. And while the kids play cardboard pirates, mommy and daddy drop the house payments and junior’s college money on the poker slots.”

The Las Vegas I imagine is one not too divorced from reality, where the extremes of luxury and vice are out in the open and the lure of promise draws one in. It is a place that is as seductive as it is repellent.

Geoffrey Ellis lives and works in San Francisco, CA and Las Vegas, NV.To view more of Geoffrey's work, please visit his website.

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